Tagged: Liquid Fund

An expert says in comparison to savings account, liquid funds will give better returns as the interest rate on them is around 6.5% which is 1-2% higher than savings deposit
Vivina Vishwanathan | Mon, Jul 31 2017. 07 53 PM IST | LiveMint.com

On Monday, State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest lender, cut the interest rate on savings account deposits from 4% to 3.5% per annum. The bank, in a BSE notification, said the 3.5% per annum interest rate is for deposits up to Rs1 crore in a savings account. For deposits above Rs1 crore, account holders will continue to earn 4% interest. Here is a look at what it means and what you should do:

The rate cut

Till 2010-11, the interest rate on savings account deposits stood at 3.5%. In October 2011, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) deregulated interest rate on savings accounts. This allowed banks to set their own interest rates. From 2011-12 onwards, a majority of the large commercial banks offered an interest rate of 4%. However, then new banks such as Yes Bank Ltd and Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd started offering higher interest rates of 6-7%. Even today these banks offer a higher interest rate.

But why did SBI cut its interest rate?

“The rationale is that the real interest rate is very high right now. In April 2011, interest rate on savings accounts was 3.5% and then there was a negative carry of nearly 5%. Today, if you look at inflation and all other benchmark rates, there is a positive carry of nearly 2.46% on savings bank interest. Real interest being so high, there was no choice for the bank but to bring down the savings account interest rate. The choice was either to raise MCLR (marginal cost of funds-based lending rate) or reduce the savings bank rate. We didn’t consider it appropriate to raise MCLR,” said Rajnish Kumar, managing director, SBI.

What should you do?

Financial planners don’t recommend leaving money idle in a savings bank account. “Typically at 4% interest rate, it was never recommended to leave money in a savings account. At 3.5% it further doesn’t make any sense at all,” said Surya Bhatia, a New Delhi-based financial planner.

Then what should you do?

“Ideally, you should put your money in instruments that give you better returns. You can make use of sweep-in fixed deposit product or liquid funds,” said Bhatia. If you are under the higher tax brackets, fixed deposit may not work for you. Liquid fund will be a better option.

Swarup Mohanty, chief executive officer, Mirae Asset Global Investments (India) Pvt. Ltd, said, “For the first time, the realization of a low interest rate is likely to hit the consumers. SBI’s move will also start the entire process of shifting investment from guaranteed products to other financial assets. This is going to be a significant turning point for incremental money to move towards financial instruments. However, I am not concluding that all money will come to mutual funds but we will benefit,” said Mohanty.

So what is the interest rate on liquid funds?

“In comparison to savings account, a liquid fund will give you better returns. Currently the interest rate on liquid funds is around 6.5%. Last year it was around 8-9%. In any case you will benefit since you are likely to get 1-2% higher returns higher than savings deposit,” said Mohanty.

Hence, instead of leaving your money idle in a bank account, put it to work through other financial products.

You could be a young individual just starting out with dreamy eyes and tall ambitions or a mid-career worker toiling hard to provide for your family or an individual just years away from retirement. Regardless of where you are in your work life, a sudden job loss is that dreadful event that most of you would like to believe can never happen to you.

The future remains unpredictable, and therefore you need to ensure a financial health that temporary shocks, such as a job loss or medical emergency that impedes your ability to earn, can’t disrupt. In fact, as it turns out that’s the first thing you need to do. You need to build an emergency fund as soon as you start planning your finances. “Individuals should know that emergency fund is the first corpus they should build before making any long-term investment,” says Mukesh Jindal, partner, Alpha Capital, a Gurgaon-based financial planning firm.

This applies to all working individuals including even those with a good asset base. “An emergency fund is needed throughout the work life of an individual since emergencies don’t go away with time. As far as an asset base is concerned, keep in mind that these assets might not be liquid. For example, you may own properties that you can’t liquidate in one or two days’ time,” says Kapil Narang, chief operating officer, Ameriprise India Pvt. Ltd, a financial planning firm. Begin by understanding the meaning of an emergency fund before you learn how to build one.

What is it?

An emergency fund is a safety net that helps you tide over a temporary cash crunch. Not only does it help you get by until you find your feet again, but it also ensures that you don’t end up dipping into your investments made for other goals. “Though it is an important aspect of planning, many people do not set aside the funds for an emergency and many times end up taking high interest loan for an emergency need. To avoid such situation, it is good to create an emergency fund corpus which can be utilized at the time of requirement,” says Anil Rego, founder and chief executive officer, Right Horizons, a financial planning firm.

It’s a common mistake therefore to think that an emergency fund is that little extra money that lies in our savings bank account. “In case of job loss or a health problem, that little extra will not suffice. One needs a suitable buffer which is at least three-six months of expenses,” says Manikaran Singhal, founder, Marvel Investments, a financial planning firm. How much you keep aside will also depend on the nature of your job. “Business individuals need at least six months of expenses. Salaried individuals can also manage with three months of living expenses, but if you are in a volatile sector you need to have provision for more,” says Suresh Sadagopan, founder, Ladder7 Financial Advisories, a financial planning firm.

Begin by taking stock of your cash flows. “Start with a simple budgeting exercise. Once you know your total expenses you can segregate them in committed and non-committed expenses. You can build your cash reserve equivalent to your committed expenses such as equated monthly instalment and kid’s tuition fees,” says Narang.

How to build it?

The next step after understanding the money that you need for a rainy day is to create an investment portfolio so that your money can earn slightly better than what a typical savings bank account offers. “If the emergency fund is too less, it could create pressure and if it is too much, it would reduce the returns. Hence, one needs to have a portfolio of differing liquidity levels and returns so as to optimize the two,” says Rego.

So what are the most important parameters to select the right products to create an emergency fund? “There are three most important parameters. It should be liquid, have no exit load and should give you stability of returns,” says Jindal. Therefore, you can’t bank on your equity portfolio during an emergency. What if the market tanks and takes your money down with it? Or you bank on your house that takes forever to sell?

What you need is a portfolio that maintains that fine balance between optimizing returns and having adequate liquidity. For this, you need a combination of products. Ideally you should start with putting away little in your bank account. “An amount equal to the expenses worth one month is enough in the bank,” says Sadagopan.

After this what instruments you choose will pretty much depend upon your comfort level with the financial products that are available in the market. The basic would be to have a combination of sweep-in account and fixed deposits. A sweep account is a savings bank account that after a particular threshold channels your money into a fixed deposit (FD) automatically and breaks this FD should you face a crunch in your bank account. “Suppose you issue a cheque and there isn’t sufficient balance in your account, the bank will break this FD to honour the cheque. This facility is mostly used by HNIs (high net worth individuals) or individuals with unpredictable income,” says R.K. Bansal, executive director, IDBI Bank Ltd. But you need to keep in mind that a premature withdrawal, as is the case with most regular stand-alone FDs, will invite a lower rate of interest. “The interest rate for the period the money is held in the FD will apply. For FDs below Rs.1 crore, most banks have now waived the pre-payment penalty,” asays Bansal.

But if you are comfortable with slightly more complex products such as debt mutual funds, liquid and ultra short-term bond funds is what you should look at. “You should park 70% of your emergency fund in these products. Many asset management companies today offer mobile transaction and debit card facility for investment withdrawal, adds Singhal.

Liquid funds invest in very short-term securities of upto 90 days whereas ultra-short term bond funds invest in securities with maturity higher than 90 days. Liquid funds usually don’t have an exit load, but many ultra-short term bond funds come with an exit load in the range of 0.1-1.0% if funds are redeemed in say a week to six months. “Ultra short-term bond funds can give slightly more, however they are more volatile than liquid funds but the difference in volatility is negligible and is at an acceptable level,” says Jindal.

Also with this initial buffer in place, you should also consider parking a portion of your money with short-term bond funds. “They give better returns but are more volatile and have an exit load initially. For this reason, you can’t start with them but you need to invest a portion here to ensure a higher return for the overall portfolio,” says Sadagopan. This is also true as most of you may not end up dipping into your emergency fund at all or at least in full.

Having an emergency fund is a very important element of financial planning. And just like it’s critical to have an emergency fund during your work years, you need to maintain a part of it even during retirement to tide over an unexpected cash crunch. And to simply put the money in your savings deposit is not smart at all.

India’s ‘young’ population is the topic of several discussions and debates. As this sizeable chunk of the population starts earning, it gives rise to higher disposable incomes, needs and aspirations. Expectedly, managing money is a natural corollary. However, the youth as a segment, has its own set of needs and niceties. In keeping with the same, we present five money management tips for young investors.

1. Say no to lazy money

One of the biggest financial blunders is to leave money idle in a savings bank account. Sure, some banks have capitalised on the liberalised regime to offer higher rates than the norm, but that doesn’t justify leaving substantial monies in the bank account. Instead, you should set aside enough money to meet your monthly expenses say for a 6-month period or thereabouts. In effect, this sum can be used to provide for any contingencies that may arise, and the balance monies should be invested.

If you can take on risk, then investing in equity mutual funds via a systematic investment plan is an option. If you would rather just park monies in an alternative avenue, then liquid funds or ultrashort bond funds can be considered. Finally, if your risk appetite doesn’t permit taking on risk, then bank fixed deposits can be apt. Even a combination of the aforementioned options can be considered. While the investment avenues and allocation must be determined based on your risk profile, needs and investment horizon, the key is to make yourmoney work for you.

2. Buy a term plan

With age on your side, buying insurance is unlikely to be a priority for you. Nonetheless, the importance of buying insurance cannot be overstated. Start off with a term plan. A term plan offers insurance in its purest form. Simply put, if an eventuality occurs, then the policy holder’s dependents receive the sum assured; however, if the policy holder survives the tenure of the policy, then no pay out is made.

Since the investment component is missing, a term plan is the cheapest form of availing an insurance cover. Furthermore, given that you are young, the premium amount will be lower now rather than later; also, it certainly helps that the premium amount remains unchanged over the tenure of the policy. Over time, as your needs and obligations change, you can consider adding more policies to your portfolio, but now is as good a time as any, to get started with a term plan.

3. Start a PPF account

Public Provident Fund or PPF as it is popularly referred to, makes for an attractive long-term investment avenue. Presently, investments in PPF earn an assured return of 8.8% per annum. Not only is the interest tax-free, investments of upto Rs 100,000 in each financial year are eligible for tax benefits under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act. Additionally, the investments are backed by a sovereign guarantee ensuring the highest degree of safety for both the sum invested and interest.

Recurring investments (on an annual basis) add an element of discipline to the investment process; the latter coupled with a 15-year investment horizon make PPF an ideal avenue for long-term investing. You can use PPF to provide for long-term goals like buying real estate or retirement. PPF’s appeal is not restricted to just risk-averse investors. For instance, if you are a risk-taking investor, the PPF account can be apt as the stable, assured return component of your portfolio.

4. Use your credit card judiciously

The basic advantages that a credit card offers are common knowledge. However, it is the ancillary benefits that you need to be circumspect about. For instance, it isn’t uncommon for credit card companies to offer a cash limit, which entitles you to withdraw money using the card. Card companies will also offer the option to pay a ‘minimum amount due’ rather than the entire due. Another common feature is to buy gadgets from a retailer who has tied-up with the credit card company; payments can be made using the EMI facility.

However, there is no free lunch in the world of credit cards. Availing the aforementioned facilities comes at a steep price – an exorbitant interest rate. The credit card’s terms and conditions will reveal that cash withdrawals attract an interest rate ranging around 2.5%-3.4% per month. Furthermore, transaction fees are levied as well. Paying only the ‘minimum amount due’ or paying for shopping via the EMI facility can be pricey propositions too. Hence, it is prudent to be disciplined and spend only as much as you can afford to pay for at once. Don’t use the credit card for any extraneous purpose.

5. Become financially literate

Surprised to read this as a money management tip? Don’t be! In India, the investment industry is coming of age. There is a growing breed of investment advisors and financial planners who are equipped to help you manage your finances. You would do well to engage the services of a competent and experienced advisor. That being said, it will certainly help your cause, if you are involved in the process as well – be it evaluating options or choosing between them. This in turn necessitates that you be financially literate.

There are several books, websites and publications that offer information on investing and personal finance. Invest time and effort to educate yourself. The intention is not to become an expert; instead, you should have enough knowledge to be able to make informed decisions. Let’s not forget that making informed decisions is the first step towards achieving financial nirvana.